The Meissen Commission was set up almost twenty years ago with an agreement between the Protestant Churches of the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic and the Church of England (neither federal nor democratic!). The national committees meet three times a year, but we join up once a year, alternating between Germany and England. Last year we were in Meissen, this year in Blackburn.

One of the focal points of our work at the moment is to learn from our different experiences how we address and live with Islamic communities in our respective societies. Following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s lecture on Sharia a couple of years ago, I was in Germany doing meetings and promoting one of my books that had just come out in German. Hard questioning and discussions made me realise why the Germans were so upset at what they thought Rowan was proposing. (In a 45-minute radio interview in Hannover I kept repeating that he hadn’t ‘proposed’ anything – he had posed a question…)

Germany has a written Constitution (Verfassung) – a Basic Law (Grundgesetz). This means that everyone is subject to the same law and this renders this element of ‘public space’ neutral. I had to explain that in England we have no written constitution and that we have what can best be described as a ‘negotiation based on precedent’. Furthermore, Islam in Germany derived from the (mainly) Turkish Gastarbeiter, whereas in England Islam is connected with the consequences of colonialism and involves communities from a wide variety of countries. (Yes, I realise it’s a bit more complicated than that, but sometimes you have to simplify it to understand it.)

The central theme of this Meissen Conference is Islam and our engagement with Muslims in our different contexts. So, we visited Blackburn Cathedral this afternoon and had a long and stimulating session with Canon Chris Chivers and Anjum Anwar, Dialogue Development Officer and the first Muslim employee of a Cathedral. This was followed by a rivetting session this evening with Dr Michael Ipgrave back at base. I now feel a renewed sense of pride in and gratitude for the Church of England – for three main reasons:

1. We still try to maintain a presence in every community in the country (in some form or other – including buildings, schools and people). We don’t just go where we think we’ll ‘grow’ our numbers, but stay where we need to serve. Anglican ecclesiology starts not with ‘the church for the sake of the church’, but with ‘the church for the sake of the world’. So, when an area becomes inhabited almost entirely by people of another faith such as Islam, we don’t leave and go away. Presence matters – even when it is immensely costly – which is why we have C of E schools with 100% Muslim population. Christian presence is important in such places – and it also gives us an unparalelled understanding of what is going on at the grassroots of our communities.

2. Presence by itself doesn’t do much. So, we engage in our communities and work hard to know and love our neighbours. This sort of engagement is risky business; any genuine encounter leaves you open to change and some people don’t want change (unless it is in those with whom they disagree). Engagement in such areas does not bring the great rewards of big numbers of bums on pews, but it is vital to the witness of the Christian Gospel that Christians engage fully in their communities in terms of service and love. Engagement creates relationships.

3. Such Christian communities – often very small – bear witness to the great Christian gift of hospitality by sharing themselves, their time, their lives with communities of people who are not like them. This is, again, where hospitals and schools come in.

There are too many stories to tell about what this looks like on the ground. But it is late and I’ve said enough for now.

A couple of years ago the Church of England produced a short booklet as an attempt to describe its theological approach to Presence and Engagement. Called Generous Love – an Anglican theology of Inter Faith Relations, it is more than worth a read.

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7 Responses to “Present, engaged and hospitable”

Congratulations on winning the leadership category at the Christian Blog Awards last night. An ecclectic mix of people were present including the Bishop of London, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pentecostals, those from free churches, Catholics, Methodists, Baptists & more. A real shame you couldn’t make it but well done again. Enjoy your mac laptop!

Maria, thank you. I was rather surprised to hear this as it never occurred to me that there were such awards. I would like to have been there, but only to actually meet in the flesh other people I only know online! I’d have been a bit embarrassed otherwise. Anyway, I hope the Bishop of London behaved himself.

Maria, thank you. I was rather surprised to hear this as it never occurred to me that there were such awards. I would like to have been there, but only to actually meet in the flesh other people I only know online! I’d have been a bit embarrassed otherwise. I didn’t know I was even in for any award until I got an email two weeks ago telling me the date – which was hopelessly short notice. I am now in Blackburn until Monday chairing the Meissen Commission.

I echo the congratulations – what it demonstrates to the world that the Leadership of the Church is out there engaging and this recognition, unexpected as you might find it, is a sign that perhaps, engagement is the way ahead.

Now, if Rowan Williams had to time to do what you are doing – engaging directly, what a difference it would make!

The question is, could Rowan Williams say keep what he said to a 500 word blog!! Well done Nick.

Regarding your latest post, I agree that one of the most precious things about the Church of England, from someone who grew up in another denomination, is the ‘practice of presence’ – the parish system, just being there, all the time, in big ways or small ways. As a vicar, I know my patch, I love my patch, and I serve my patch.

I may occasionally look at other people’s patches with envy, in the same way as other people’s families can seem more interesting that your own; but actually, they are not.

Just ‘being’ is underrated, especially in my evangelical world. So I will be. And I may, occasionally, do.

Thank you for this post. I wonder whether genuine presence and awareness lead to the engagement and hospitality of which you speak: how much can we change ourselves (and then in turn the world) simply by paying attention?